Our vacation is now over–but what a great time Pam and I had!
We traveled 2900 miles in our Infiniti, trouble-free. Did a little backtracking, including the whole southern part of South Dakota and a little stretch in Minnesota, but didn’t mind. Left home September 9, returned home late Friday night, September 17.
We left home Wednesday, September 9, for Chicago, where I attended the MinistryCOM conference Thursday and Friday. But starting Saturday, it was all vacation. We headed to Minneapolis, and Sunday night found us in South Dakota. We spent three days in the Rapid City area–the Badlands. Gorgeous territory! We were there about 16 years ago, but it was a quick trip–saw Rushmore, Deadwood, and headed on. This time, we got to enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills.
We had sunshine and 70-80 degree weather the whole way. Perfect!
In Chicago, ate at a little deli with incredible 50’s decor. That was the good part. The food was terrible, and the only workers were two Arab-Americans who spoke to each other in arabic.
Visited Long Grove, a quaint section on the edge of the Chicago metropolis with shops in old houses. Pam was there many years ago with her Dad, Chuck.
That’s about it for Chicago. On Saturday morning, we headed for Minneapolis, and spent most of the day heading there.
Visited the Mall of the Americas Saturday night, September 12. We had about four hours before closing, and trekked the place and ate (at the original Rainforest Cafe) in about three hours. It’s truly enormous. And the recession doesn’t seem to have hit that mall. It was busy busy busy.
Attended church Sunday morning, September 13, at Berean Baptist in Minneapolis. Brent Birdsall, a friend from Huntington, joined the staff two years ago. Quite an impressive church. With an attendance of 2000, Brent said they are still only the 55th largest church in Minneapolis. We took Brent to lunch (Sandie was in Seattle with a daughter) and spent several enjoyable hours with him, mostly there at Ruby Tuesdays.
Minneapolis is the home of the NFL Vikings, the first team I fell in love with as a kid. That was back in the Fran Tarkenton/Alan Page/Chuck Foreman days. I rooted loyally for them for many years, but they continually let me down. I’ve since switched loyalties to the Colts. Nevertheless, some remnants of Viking fanhood remain. I bought a Vikings T-shirt and cap. But I didn’t get one of the Brett Favre T-shirts and jerseys that adorned shop windows throughout the city.
After leaving Brent, we pressed on to Sioux Falls, SD. Didn’t intend to get that far, but went for it. Found a Holiday Inn Express, and found a very poor late-night meal at a Perkins.
We were really impressed with Sioux Falls. We could live there. Spacious, modern, clean, easy to get around. The interstate goes down the middle, and practically everything can be found off of the 4-5 exits. Sioux Falls has one of the nicest malls I’ve ever seen.
First thing Monday morning, September 14, we went to the Sioux Falls zoo. The AAA book said it was a gem. And it was. A very nice zoo for a city of 125,000. Not as nice as Fort Wayne’s zoo, but worth seeing.
Outside the zoo entrance was an old piano. I took a seat and played while Pam snapped some pictures.
The original plan was to spent Monday night in Mitchell, SD, and head to Rapid City on Tuesday. But after leaving Sioux Falls around 2:30, we decided to make it to Rapid City that night. We skipped the Corn Palace in Mitchell. We skipped Wall Drug. Stopped at both of them during our visit in the early 1990s. Figured on stopping at Wall Drug on our way home, since we would be backtracking.
Arrived around 9 pm in Rapid City. The Hampton and Holiday Inn Express were full, but Comfort Inn had a place for us.
Found a gourmet pizza place called Boston’s for a late-night meal. Turns out that at that time of night, you can get a personal pizza for $2.99. That’s what we did–2 personal pepperoni pizzas, 2 drinks. Fantastic pizza! And couldn’t beat the price.
That’s enough for this post.
